This worn fortune-teller's (and gambler's) deck bears an evocative image upon each of its forty-five cards. The deck contains six suits (in order: moons, suns, waves, leaves, wyrms and knots) with a complex structure. For each suit, there is an Ace and a Crown. Ranked between them are other cards numbered 2 through 9, each with two suits. Four Courts each have three suits and are ranked beneath Crowns. Four Pawns each have three suits as well, ranked below Courts. The Excuse has no suit or rank. Suit combinations do not occur with equal frequency. All cards also have a theme or meaning, written on the face of the card (one third represent people, one third represent places and one third represent events). Some cards appear the same when upside down, some do not.
Cards of this deck are almost never found assembled, as the deck has the ability to scatter itself under certain circumstances. Most who come across cards find them singly. Individual cards are no more or less durable than mundane cards; however, should a card be destroyed, it disappears and reforms itself whole at some other random location in the world.
Individual cards make their presence known whenever combat begins. Whenever an initiative check is made, the GM randomly selects one of the cards possessed by the participants in the combat. This card then exerts an influence on the battle. A spectral icon representing the card appears on the ground in a random square adjacent to the character who owns the selected card. Anyone standing in the square containing the icon gains the influence effect listed for that card, so long as they remain in the same square as the icon. If the character moves out of the square (or the icon moves out from under the character) the influence effect ends immediately.
Any spell-like abilities granted by cards function with a caster level equal to your level. When an influence that grants a spell-like ability leaves a character, the character can no longer use the spell-like ability, but any instances of the spell cast while the character was under the influence remain running as per their normal duration. (In contrast, characters under an influence that gives them an ability "as if" under the effects of a spell lose that ability immediately when the influence leaves them.)
At the start of each round, the icon moves 1d4-1 squares in a random direction (roll 1d8, with 1 indicating north and the other numbers indicating compass going clockwise). If the icon would move into an obstacle (e.g. wall, the edge of a cliff, etc.), it instead just stops. Any creatures standing final destination of the icon immediately gain the influence effect of the card.
Characters who own cards may spend a standard action attempting to force a card they own to become the influencing card. Success on a Use Magic Item check (DC 18) causes any existing influence to vanish, and a new influence icon to appear at a random square adjacent to the card owner. Any character in that square immediately gains the influence effect of the new card.
The character who owns the influencing card may spend a move action attempting to move its icon. Success on a Use Magic Item check (DC 20) allows the character to move the icon up to 15'. Any creatures standing in the destination square immediately gain the influence effect of the card.
Cumulative Effects
As more of the cards come together, the deck gains potency. If a single character holds multiple cards, they bestow additional effects, depending on the number of cards and their suit combinations. All applicable effects from the following table apply if you owns cards that qualify. All spell-like abilities granted by the deck function with a caster level equal to your level.
card combination
effect
any 6 cards
You emit an aura of chaos as if you were a cleric of a chaotic deity.
You may cast dispel law once per day as a spell-like ability.
any 30 cards
You may cast discern location once per day as a spell-like ability, but only to locate other cards from the deck; however, see the Notoriety section, below.
any 36 cards
Your alignment shifts one step toward chaotic. You may cast word of chaos once per day as a spell-like ability.
any 42 cards
You may cast cloak of chaos once per day as a spell-like ability.
You may cast maze once per day as a spell-like ability.
Completing the deck
Should one character assemble the complete deck, the true power of the deck reveals itself. The owner of the deck may perform an hour long ritual culminating in the owner (or someone she designates) drawing one or more cards from the deck. If the one drawing is lawful, they may draw only one card. If the one drawing is chaotic, they may draw up to three cards. Otherwise the one drawing may draw up to two cards. Regardless of who draws, the owner of the deck chooses one of the drawn cards, and the major effect listed for that card activates (targeting the one who drew it). Major effects are permanent and cannot be eliminated without powerful magic, such as a wish or miracle.
Afterwards, each card drawn disintegrates and reforms at a random location (as mentioned above). The owner of the deck immediately becomes aware of the location of the card that was activated (but not the other draw cards, if any). No longer in possession of a complete deck, the owner must track down the lost cards in order to complete the deck and draw again. Note that, since the new cards are not technically the same object as the cards that were drawn, the deck's owner has never handled the new cards, which prevents divination spells that require such handling from locating the new cards.
Some major effects also cause additional cards from the deck to vanish and reappear elsewhere. This may happen in one of two ways. If the deck divides, undrawn cards are distributed at random into four separate piles, as evenly as possible. One pile, chosen at random, remains where it is. The other piles teleport to random locations within 100 miles. If the deck scatters, all undrawn cards teleport to random locations within 2,000 miles.
Consciousness
Created to spread chaos, the deck possesses a rudimentary consciousness which helps further that aim. This consciousness wants the cards to be found and used, so whenever cards transfer to new locations, they will never wind up anywhere too obscure or unaccessible (e.g. surrounded by solid rock, the bottom of unclimbable ravine, etc.). Instead, they tend to appear in places where they might get found eventually (e.g. the bottom of a chest in an attic, the pocket of a rarely used coat, tucked into a library book, a family crypt, etc.). The deck is most content when its presence sows discord or upsets the status quo, and favors getting cards into the hands of destabilizing forces (like your average group of PCs).
When adjudicating matters related to the deck, keep the desires of this consciousness in mind. Take the Windfall card, for example, which makes a character an heir to a noble title. While this might result in a character taking up the reins of power peacefully, the deck would much prefer that a full on civil war broke out instead. Along the same lines, the deck wants people to fight over its cards when trying to unify the deck.
Notoriety
The deck uses a subtle ability (called the Notoriety) to spread information to further its own ends. This ability is under the control of the GM and works in four ways:
Any time a card's major effect is activated, the GM should read and apply the listed Notoriety section for that card when planning the future of the campaign. The Notoriety will usually inform some third parties about what has happened, though perhaps not in a totally truthful manner. It may, occasionally, provide effects of its own. Generally, the parties gaining this information will be the most motivated to act on it, either threatened by the results of the major effect or sensing a new opportunity for themselves. GMs should carefully consider what those contacted by the Notoriety do with the information they receive and how their reactions will cross paths with the PCs.
When a single character gains control of 15 or more cards (one third of the deck), everyone who sees that character will know, at least subconsciously, that the character owns a sizable portion of the pandemonium deck. GMs should carefully consider how people react to this knowledge, taking their alignment and other motivations into a account. Some may want to steal it. Some may want it as far away as possible. Some may not care at all.
Although it prefers to rely on luck and happenstance, the deck may rarely help expose a card that has been hidden for too long by placing an unconscious suggestion in the mind of someone nearby that might result in the card being found—something like "maybe I'll get around to cleaning the attic today" or "that jacket I haven't worn in years is back in style" or "ransacking the old man's wine cellar will be profitable".
As mentioned above, anyone gathering two thirds of the deck can use discern location to find other cards. Any time this ability is used, the Notoriety informs anyone who owns six or more cards of the result. Other types of divination (including discern location spells from other sources) do not trigger the Notoriety in this way.
The Notoriety works in very subtle ways, creating rumors, dreams, gossip, speculation reported as fact, gut reactions or even minor shifts in memory. Often, creatures who gain information from the Notoriety wouldn't even be able to tell you how they came by the information. They just know. Maybe they've always known. The Notoriety is the proverbial "they" when people start tall tales with "they say that…". No one confirms it, but people believe it anyway, at least enough to act on it.
Card Effects
Author
Author
Rank/Suits Two (moons, knots)
Influence Effect You can read, speak and understand any language, as if under the influence of a tongues spell. You also may cast command as a spell-like ability.
Major Effect From this point on, whenever you roll initiative, you roll twice and selects whichever result you prefers; however, an opponent of the GM's choice may use your discarded result.
Notoriety
Bard
Bard
Rank/Suits Crown (suns)
Influence Effect You gain a +4 luck bonus to charisma.
Major Effect You physically become a member of the opposite gender.
Notoriety
Battle
Author
Rank/Suits Four (wyrms, knots)
Influence Effect You may cleave as if you had the feat. If you already have cleave, you may great cleave as if you had the feat. If you have that feat as well, you no longer take the -2 AC penalty when you use it.
Major Effect The deck divides. While in combat, you are always considered to be flanked. Attackers gain a +2 flanking bonus on attacks made against you and may sneak attack you at will.
Notoriety
Betrayal
Betrayal
Rank/Suits Eight (wyrms, knots)
Influence Effect You may cast confess at will as a spell-like ability. If cast on an ally, add 4 to the save DC.
Major Effect Your animal companion, familiar, cohort, or other NPC ally is alienated and forever after hostile. If you have no such allies, the enmity of some powerful personage, community, or religious order can be substituted. This hatred remains a secret until such a time that it might be most dramatically and perilously revealed. Upon drawing this card, you know that someone or something will turn against you, but nothing more.
Notoriety
Borderland
Borderland
Rank/Suits Pawn (waves, leaves, wyrms)
Influence Effect You flicker back and forth between the Material Plane and the Ethereal Plane, as if under the effects of a blink spell.
Major Effect This card grants you the one-time ability to travel to any location on the same plane instantly, bringing with you up to 10 allies and 2,000 pounds of goods. You must know exactly where you wishes to travel, such as a place you have been or a location on a map, but not a vague or hidden location, like the "richest dungeon in the world" or the Lost City of Ird. This transportation ignores all barriers against teleportation or other magical effects. You may use this card's effect whenever you wish, but only once.
Notoriety
Calamity
Calamity
Rank/Suits Crown (wyrms)
Influence Effect You gain a +4 luck bonus to strength.
Major Effect You cannot gain another level in whichever class you currently have the most levels. This effect can be circumvented if you are killed and returned to life, but the next time your are restored to life you are affected as if by the spell reincarnate, regardless of what spell was cast.
Notoriety
Castle
Castle
Rank/Suits Seven (suns, knots)
Influence Effect You gain a +5 luck bonus to AC, but cannot voluntarily move from your current square.
Major Effect You gain a personal demiplane, as per a permanent create demiplane spell.
Notoriety
Cave
Cave
Rank/Suits Seven (waves, wyrms)
Influence Effect You become isolated from the rest of the combat. Targeting you with an attack or spell requires a successful Will save (DC 18). Likewise, you must make a similar save to target an opponent with an attack or spell. Untargeted effects are not affected.
Major Effect You permanently lose one of your senses—sight, hearing, or speech—becoming blind, deaf, or mute (player's choice). This affliction cannot be cured by any effect short of a miracle or wish spell.
Notoriety
Chance Meeting
Chance Meeting
Rank/Suits Seven (moons, leaves)
Influence Effect You may always make an attack of opportunity when the chance presents itself, regardless of how many other opportunity attacks you have made already in the round.
Major Effect This card grants you the one-time ability to scry on any target anywhere for 1 minute. The target, however, is immediately aware that it is being scryed upon by you. You may use this card's effect whenever you wish, but only once.
Notoriety
Consul
Consul
Rank/Suits Court (moons, waves, knots)
Influence Effect You may spend a standard action to heal all ability damage to your Wisdom, Dexterity and Intelligence. You may spend a standard action to heal all ability drain to either your Wisdom, Dexterity or Intelligence.
Major Effect Your Wisdom score becomes your new Dexterity score. Your old Dexterity score becomes your new Intelligence score. Your old Intelligence score becomes your new Wisdom score. You then add +2 to two of these ability scores.
Notoriety
Darkness
Darkness
Rank/Suits Nine (waves, wyrms)
Influence Effect You gain darkvision to 60'. If she already has darkvision, its range extends by 60'.
Major Effect You become cursed, loosing any darkvision she might have had and constantly surrounded by darkness, as if the center of a deeper darkness spell. As with all major effects, only powerful magic such wish or miracle can lift this curse; remove curse and break enchantment have no effect.
Notoriety
Desert
Desert
Rank/Suits Two (suns, wyrms)
Influence Effect You gain a +3 luck bonus to Will saves.
Major Effect You begin to dehydrate, even if you do not normally require water. No amount of drinking can counter this effect. If you reach zero hit points, you immediately gain the dread mummy template and the dehydration effect stops.
Notoriety
Diplomat
Diplomat
Rank/Suits Eight (moons, suns)
Influence Effect You gain the ability to cast charm person at will, adding a +4 bonus to the save DC.
Major Effect The deck scatters. You gain the one-time ability to issue a single command to any creature in the multiverse and have the order obeyed. The target is affected as if by the spell dominate monster, and even orders for the target to kill itself are followed. Any creature targeted by this effect knows that it is acting against its will, and knows the identity and location of you. Immortal creatures cannot effectively kill themselves, and the act only causes them considerable but fleeting pain. Additionally, creatures with the ability to grant such boons typically also possess the power to revoke them, and do so as soon as the command releases them. The GM ultimately decides what this command can accomplish. You may use this card's effect whenever you wish, but may only use it once.
Notoriety
Discovery
Discovery
Rank/Suits Five (suns, waves)
Influence Effect You know the exact identity and location of all cards from the pandemonium deck within 300', even if contained within extra-dimensional spaces or protected from divination.
Major Effect This card grants you the one-time ability to call upon an omniscient spirit to fully answer any question or solve any single puzzle. Whether the information revealed can be effectively acted upon is another question entirely. You may use this card's effect whenever you wish, but only once.
Notoriety
End
End
Rank/Suits Crown (leaves)
Influence Effect You gain a +4 luck bonus to constitution.
Major Effect Your body disintegrates. All that remains are your items and a glowing gem containing your soul. This gem is worth an amount of gp equal to 2,500 × your level. A resurrection or stronger spell is required to restore you, and doing so destroys the gem.
Notoriety
Excuse
Excuse
Rank/Suits None (none)
Influence Effect Immediately after you make any die roll and the result is revealed, you may "accidentally" jostle the die and use that as an excuse make the roll over again. The rerolled result must be accepted, even if it is worse than the original.
Major Effect The deck scatters if this card is drawn as part of the ritual, even if a different card is selected to take effect. The selected card does function, but the deck still scatters. If the Excuse is selected to take effect, it grants you the one-time ability to undo one past choice or regrettable action (but not the drawing of the Excuse). The fabric of reality is unraveled and respun, potentially restoring creatures to life or altering the course of history, depending on how you acted and how you wish he would have acted. The player chooses what situation he would have acted differently in and the GM determines how reality changes to reflect that act. The change primarily affects you, affecting others as little as possible. You may use this card's effect whenever you wish, but only once.
Notoriety
Forest
Forest
Rank/Suits Five (moons, leaves)
Influence Effect
Major Effect You receive two visions and the knowledge that one vision is true and the other false, though you do not know which is which. The GM determines the specifics of these visions. The visions may be views of the past, present, or future; cryptic omens; or total fantasies.
Notoriety
Harvest
Harvest
Rank/Suits Pawn (moons, suns, leaves)
Influence Effect You can sift through the surface thoughts of those around you, as if under the effects of a seek thoughts spell.
Major Effect You gain the one-time ability to steal permanent hit points from any targets you can see. When activated, you gain a number of permanent hit points sufficient to set your hit point total as if you had rolled the maximum value on every hit dice. One or more targets you can see permanently lose this many hit points, distributed as you choose, so long as any given target does not drop below their minimum possible hit points (as if rolling the minimum value on all hit dice). This transfer has as little impact on the target's temporary hit point total as possible (meaning that "spent" hit points—damage points taken—are transferred first).
Notoriety
Huntress
Huntress
Rank/Suits Crown (moons)
Influence Effect You gain a +4 luck bonus to wisdom.
Major Effect All attacks you make that threaten a critical hit are automatically confirmed. Likewise, all attacks made against you that threaten a critical hit are also automatically confirmed.
Notoriety
Island
Island
Rank/Suits Court (suns, waves, wyrms)
Influence Effect You may spend a standard action to heal all ability damage to your Charisma, Dexterity and Strength. You may spend a standard action to heal all ability drain to either your Charisma, Dexterity or Strength.
Major Effect Your Charisma score becomes your new Dexterity score. Your old Dexterity score becomes your new Strength score. Your old Strength score becomes your new Charisma score. You then add +2 to two of these ability scores.
Notoriety
Journey
Journey
Rank/Suits Three (moons, waves)
Influence Effect
Major Effect Your favorite item—preferably a magic weapon—becomes intelligent. Use the rules for intelligent items to randomly generate the item's abilities. If you have no items, an intelligent item soon falls into your possession.
Notoriety
Knot
Knot
Rank/Suits Ace (knots)
Influence Effect You receive a +6 luck bonus on all skill checks.
Major Effect The deck divides. You are taken captive as if by an imprisonment spell with no saving throw. You retain all possessions on your person, except the pandemonium deck. All beings in the world become magically aware that a) you are imprisoned and b) anyone who frees you will be able to place a geas on you and be granted a limited wish.
Influence Effect You gain immunity to bleed, paralysis, poison and sleep effects.
Major Effect You are granted a single miracle by either a deity you favor or a god of luck or fortune. This miracle functions similarly to the spell miracle when it comes to affecting rules and statistics, but can also change reality in ways outside the bounds of the spell's effects—such as rerouting a river or ending a war. The GM decides what the miracle can and cannot accomplish, as well as how much of an interest the deity takes in you afterward.
Influence Effect You can see magical auras, as if under the effects of arcane sight.
Major Effect You gain a reputation as a prophet. At least once a day, when your conversation can be overheard in public, at least one eavesdropper will be filled with the conviction that one of your comments, however innocuous, is the key to some great life-changing truth. If you engage in any sort of public oratory, 1d10 people in the crowd will be similarly affected. Unfortunately, you have no control over which statements will be latched onto by the listeners. Affected listeners will largely rearrange their life in order to pursue this truth. Some will try to follow you anywhere you goes. Others will openly worship you and do anything you ask (other than stop following you). As the number of followers increases, debates will likely arise among the faithful, as most of them will be reacting to different, possibly contradictory, statements made by you, which may even give rise to violence and schisms. Religious and political leaders may also react to a growing cult in their midst.
Notoriety
Lunatic
Lunatic
Rank/Suits Six (moons, waves)
Influence Effect You become enraged, as if under the effects of a rage spell.
Major Effect You gain the lycanthrope template, using a dire animal as the template's base animal. As with all major effects, typical remedies, such as remove disease or heal in this case, have no affect on this affliction.
Notoriety
Market
Market
Rank/Suits Six (leaves, knots)
Influence Effect You may increase one combat score at the expense of another, as if you had the power attack, combat expertise or deadly aim feats. If you make use of a feat you already have, you may calculate the penalty and bonus provided by the feat (but not the attack roll itself) as if your base attack bonus was eight points higher.
Major Effect Any time you dream, you may choose to enter the Dream Market, a place where all non-unique magic items are bought and sold at a 10% discount. You may access all of your real world wealth and possessions to buy and sell in the Dream Market and any transactions made translate into the real world once you wake. Any time you enters the market, ten random sleeping people within 50 miles of the you have vivid dreams where they see and hear everything you do in the market. These people will remember the dreams, and may seek out you because of them.
Notoriety
Merchant
Merchant
Rank/Suits Nine (leaves, knots)
Influence Effect You may throw a gem at a target as a ranged touch attack. If the gem hits, it disappears in a flash of light. For every 50gp of value the gem had, you may adjust the rolled initiative score of the target up or down by one.
Major Effect A mysterious entity known as the Generation Merchant appears, offering you any treasure you wish in return for years of your life. You have up to four choices:
You accept. You choose to age a number of age categories, taking all the ability score penalties for the new age, but gaining none of the benefits. For each age category you advance, however, you gains 20,000gp worth of credit with the Generation Merchant, which can be spent on any non-unique magic items. Any credit you do not spend is lost. Years taken by the merchant cannot be restored by any means. Characters who are immortal or cannot die of old age are not offered this choice.
You transfer the offer to someone you knows (either out of good will or as the result of some side bargain). The recipient must then make one of the four choices himself.
You counteroffer magic items in exchange for life. You chooses to regress a number of age categories, taking all the ability score benefits for the new age, but gaining none of the penalties. For each age category you retrogrades, however, you must pay 30,000 gp worth of magic items to the Generation Merchant (who keeps any excess value). Characters who are immortal or cannot die of old age are not offered this choice.
You decline. The Generation Merchant berates you for wasting his time, steals a year of your life and disappears in a puff of acrid yellow smoke.
Notoriety
Mill
Mill
Rank/Suits Eight (waves, leaves)
Influence Effect
Major Effect You gain one-time ability to open any one door, lock, set of bindings, or other locked barrier. This includes magical gates or portals that have specific requirements to activate, no matter how epic. You may use this card's effect whenever you wish, but only once.
Notoriety
Moon
Moon
Rank/Suits Ace (moons)
Influence Effect If you cast a spell of up to 4th level, it does not consume one of your spells per day.
Major Effect You are granted a single wish. This wish functions similarly to the spell wish when it comes to affecting rules and statistics, but can also change reality in ways outside the bounds of the spell's effects—such as rerouting a river or ending a war. The GM decides what the wish can and cannot accomplish.
Notoriety
Mountain
Mountain
Rank/Suits Four (moons, suns)
Influence Effect You gain a +3 luck bonus to Fortitude saves.
Major Effect The next time you are reduced to –10 hit points, you are instantly restored to full hit points. If your are killed by an effect that slays you without dealing hit point damage (such as by disintegrate), the effect fails to kill you and you are restored to full hit points. If you are killed by a hostile environment (such as a lava flow or when teleporting to a dangerous plane), you are transported to your last safe location and restored to full hit points. This card does not save you from effects that would permanently disable you, like petrification.
Notoriety
Origin
Origin
Rank/Suits Two (waves, leaves)
Influence Effect You gain a +3 luck bonus to Reflex saves.
Major Effect The GM chooses one of your enemies. This enemy has a complete change of heart and now favors you.
Notoriety
Pact
Pact
Rank/Suits Nine (moons, suns)
Influence Effect Any spells you cast gain a +1 enhancement bonus to the DC of any saving throws against the spell, and can be cast as if a particular metamagic feat was applied to it (without increasing the spell level or casting time). The metamagic available changes randomly each time the icon moves, but is one of: Enlarge Spell, Extend Spell, Intensified Spell, Piercing Spell, Silent Spell or Still Spell.
Major Effect You gain the ability to summon an outsider of your alignment once per day. This outsider must be of a CR equal to or less than your level and serves for a number of rounds equal to your level.
Notoriety
Painter
Painter
Rank/Suits Three (suns, knots)
Influence Effect
Major Effect You become immune to one energy type of your choice, but gains vulnerability to another energy type of the GM's choice.
Notoriety
Penitent
Penitent
Rank/Suits Six (suns, wyrms)
Influence Effect
Major Effect Your most powerful, most valuable, or favorite magic item (GM's choice) manifests a curse. Roll on Table: Common Item Curses to generate this effect, rerolling results for specific items.
Notoriety
Rite
Rite
Rank/Suits Court (moons, leaves, wyrms)
Influence Effect You may spend a standard action to heal all ability damage to your Wisdom, Constitution and Strength. You may spend a standard action to heal all ability drain to either your Wisdom, Constitution or Strength.
Major Effect Your Wisdom score becomes your new Constitution score. Your old Constitution score becomes your new Strength score. Your old Strength score becomes your new Wisdom score. You then add +2 to two of these ability scores.
Notoriety
Sailor
Sailor
Rank/Suits Four (waves, leaves)
Influence Effect
Major Effect You become a voyager on the inner and outer planes, gaining the following spell-like abilities, usable at will: ethereal jaunt, astral projection, plane shift. When using the plane shift ability to reach a location outside the Prime Material Plane you have seen before, she may make a Knowledge (Planes) skill check (DC 25) to arrive 0-300 feet of the desired spot.
Notoriety
Savage
Savage
Rank/Suits Three (leaves, wyrms)
Influence Effect
Major Effect A powerful evil outsider takes notice of you and sets plans in motion to destroy you. Hot anger, jealousy, and envy are but a few of the possible motivational forces for the enmity. The enmity of the outsider can't be ended until one of the parties has been slain. Determine the outsider randomly, and assume that it attacks you (or plagues your life in some way).
Notoriety
Sea
Sea
Rank/Suits Crown (waves)
Influence Effect You gain a +4 luck bonus to dexterity.
Major Effect You gain the amphibious special quality. Twice per day, if you are totally submerged in salt water, you may transfer yourself and others to any other point in that same continuous body of water. This is a supernatural ability that behaves similar to a dimension door spell, but replacing the range and allowing you to bring the equivalent of one Medium creature per character level.
Notoriety
Soldier
Soldier
Rank/Suits Five (wyrms, knots)
Influence Effect
Major Effect Upon drawing this card, 1d6 exact duplicates of you appear within a 20-mile radius. These duplicates have an alignment opposite to yours and oppose your goals.
Notoriety
Sun
Sun
Rank/Suits Ace (suns)
Influence Effect When you cast divine spells your effective caster level is increased by three.
Major Effect You gain exactly enough experience to advance to the next level, or 50,000xp, whichever is higher.
Notoriety
Watchman
Watchman
Rank/Suits Pawn (moons, wyrms, knots)
Influence Effect You can see any objects or beings that are invisible within your range of vision, as if under the effects of see invisibility.
Major Effect The deck divides. You immediately gain the ghost template (with the Fatal Fate variation), becoming incorporeal and losing possession of all physical items (including the deck), tasked with defending and assisting the "card leader": whoever controls the most cards in the deck. If one individual gains more cards than anyone else, you immediately know the identity and location of that individual and must travel to them at best possible speed. Every day that passes without the card leader finding a new card inflicts one hit point of damage on you, which cannot be healed until the card leader finds a new card. This damage remains even if you are rejuvinated, but is healed automatically once a card is found. If all of your hit points are taken in this way, you are destroyed permanently. If the card leader controls the entire deck, no more hit points are lost.
If the card leader owns the Watchman card, any mind-affecting attacks you makes on the card leader gain a +4 bonus to their save DC.
Should the Watchman card be selected in the drawing ritual, you lose the ghost template become corporeal again, while the individual drawing the card becomes the new ghostly watchman.
GM's should be aware that the existence of this card makes it possible (but not guaranteed) that one ghostly watchman already exists before this card is ever drawn in play. Such a ghost can be used to introduce plot elements, or in other ways, during campaigns involving the deck.
Notoriety
Wave
Wave
Rank/Suits Ace (waves)
Influence Effect You gain improved evasion, as per the rogue talent or monk ability. If you already have this ability, you automatically succeed on Reflex saves against an attacks that normally deals half damage on a successful save.
Major Effect A wave of pure chaos engulfs both you and the deck. The deck is scattered. You and everything you carry are destroyed (artifacts excepted). Your mind and soul are grafted into the body of an elder kraken in the largest body of water on your world. All of your stats and abilities are replaced with the kraken's stat block, but you are in control of the kraken's body and actions. While you inhabit the kraken, you gain regeneration 20 (sonic) and the spell-like abilities to cast tsunami three times per day and transmute rock to mud at will.
Apart from somehow getting others to cast a wish or miracle to restore you, the only escape from inhabiting the kraken is to destroy. If you manage to make five coastal cities uninhabitable, the effect ends: the kraken dissolves, leaving your original form behind, naked, but otherwise the same as when the effect started.
Notoriety
Windfall
Windfall
Rank/Suits Crown (knots)
Influence Effect You gain a +4 luck bonus to intelligence.
Major Effect You gain 20,000 gp worth of gems and jewelry. Within 1d8 weeks, evidence is made public proving you have the most legitimate claim to a specific noble title. The GM will determine the nature of the title, including who might currently hold it.
Notoriety
Window
Window
Rank/Suits Court (suns, leaves, knots)
Influence Effect You may spend a standard action to heal all ability damage to your Charisma, Constitution and Intelligence. You may spend a standard action to heal all ability drain to either your Charisma, Constitution or Intelligence.
Major Effect Your Charisma score becomes your new Constitution score. Your old Constitution score becomes your new Intelligence score. Your old Intelligence score becomes your new Charisma score. You then add +2 to two of these ability scores.
Notoriety
Wyrm
Wyrm
Rank/Suits Ace (wyrms)
Influence Effect When you cast arcane spells your effective caster level is increased by three.
Major Effect You must choose between his most valuable item and a major ally of the GM's choice, knowing that whichever is not selected is destroyed or slain and cannot be restored by mortal means.
Notoriety
Destruction
If the entire deck is assembled and then the cards ordered (first by rank, then by the first suit on the card), a dispel chaos spell will cause the deck to disintegrate forever.
Design Notes
The deck of many things has long been considered "campaign breaking", where drawing even one card might derail the whole campaign into a different direction. While many variations of the deck have tried to correct this by reducing the impact card effects, this design goes the other way. It encourages the major effects to change the whole direction of the campaign, but uses mechanics to pace the drawing of cards such that everyone will be expecting the campaign to change radically when a card is drawn. At the same time, by focussing on the individual cards as more minor magic items, it allows groups to "dabble" in using the deck without having to jump in the deep end. A GM might introduce a card or two into the game. If the players seem motivated to find other cards, then the deck can become a more major force in the campaign. If not, then the players have gained some interesting trinkets and life goes on. Should a campaign go full bore into assembling the deck, however, the point at which the ritual is completed and someone draws a card should be monumental, and an obvious turning point to all involved.
To support this, an attempt was made to have the mechanics help accelerate the search for the cards as cards are accumulated. At first, cards are likely to be found one at a time, but as the campaign becomes more serious about assembling the deck, the mechanics should help to foster clashes between groups trying to assemble the deck, at which point the victor will gain all the cards of the loser.
The influence effects are not intended to be balanced with each other; some are clearly better than others. Cards with numeric ranks tend to be on par with second level spell effects. Pawns, Courts and Crowns tend to match third level spell effects. Aces are a bit stronger. Since these effects abandon you when the icon moves, their design choices tend to err on the side of being stronger. Unlike the major effects, influence effects are always constructed as a benefit; however, since the icon will move at random, this does not necessarily translate into a benefit for the card's owner or your allies.
In some cases, suits are linked to abilities (moons=wis, suns=cha, waves=dex, leaves=con, wyrms=str, knots=int).
Major effects were designed to have an even mix of "good", "bad" and "neutral" for you, 15 effects of each kind. This is somewhat subjective, however, so your mileage may vary. Wyrms are almost always bad. Cards with what the author of Decktet calls "sympathetic combinations" are almost always good. Generally, "neutral" effects mix things that are good and bad for you, but are almost always more good than bad. The "bad" in some effects (particularly the drawbacks of the neutral effects) involve reactions of others to the effect and/or providing knowledge about the effect to others. This is completely intentional. The main design idea is that life for you might get better or it might worse, but it will always get more complicated, often by pointing the agendas of other people at you.
